Recording and reproducing device

ABSTRACT

A recording and reproducing device capable of storing video-recording and reproducing position with reference to a character string inputted at that point of time and of reproducing the recorded video data starting at a specified position by pointing the related character string. A recording and reproducing device is provide with a recording/reproducing means for recording/reproducing video information, a character inputting means for inputting characters and a recording/reproducing position storing means for relationally storing information indicating the relation a position of recording or reproducing data by the recording/reproducing means at a time point of detection of the character inputting, the string of character inputted by the character inputting means and information indicating area wherein the characters have been inputted, when inputting of a string of character are started by the character inputting means during recording or reproducing video data by the recording/reproducing means. This allows the user to select one of character strings indicated a character display area, whereby the recorded video data can be reproduced from the video position stored with reference to the selected character string.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a recording and reproducingdevice capable of a recording and reproducing video and audio data andmore specifically to a recording and reproducing device allowinginputting of characters while recording or reproducing video and audiodata.

[0002] Recently, information processing devices such as personalcomputers have been developed, which are capable of processing not onlydocument and image data but also audio and video data. In thisconnection, there have been a number of methods for dealing withdocument/image data in relation with audio/video data on the informationprocessing devices.

[0003] For example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 7-191978discloses a document processing device that can record audio data on aspecifically marked position within document data and can output theaudio data when an instruction is given for reproducing the audio datain the marked position. The operation of the device is briefly outlinedas follows: When recording audio data, a recording positioncorresponding to a position in a document data is specified by aposition specifying means. The audio data is then input in timing withthe specified position and recorded. The audio recording means recordsthe audio data correspondingly to the specified position of the documentdata. When reproducing the audio data, the specifying means instructsthe beginning of reproducing audio data by specifying a mark indicatedthereat. The audio data corresponding to the mark for audio reproductionis read from the audio recording means and output.

[0004] On the other hand, some video recording and reproducingapplications used on personal computers provides such a user interfacethat sets a start point of video reproduction by using an indicator (aprogress bar) for indicating a relative position of currentlyreproducing portion in a total time of an entire record.

[0005] A conventional video editing device can automatically recognize ascene end (a cut point) of video, indicate a scene end by a plurality ofcontracted images and edit video data by copying, cutting (deleting),pasting and transferring on the contracted images.

[0006] The document processing device described in Japanese Laid-openPublication No. 7-191978 can record any audio data on any desiredposition within document data and, moreover, can recognize the audiorecord position by a mark and output the audio data related to thecorresponding document data by specifying the reproduction of the audiodata with the mark.

[0007] The above-described document processing device is effective toadd audio data to already recorded document data, but it is not suitedto add characters to already recorded audio data.

[0008] The user interface using the indicator specifying a videoreproducing start in the video recording/reproducing application for apersonal computer can not precisely specify a start position whenreproducing the video data. In other word, this method cannot easilystart the reproduction of the video from a correct portion that the userwants to see first.

[0009] The conventional video editing device for editing video data byprocessing a plurality of contracted images involves problems inconnection with a large number of contracted images due to automaticrecognition of scene cut points, unrecognizable moderate scene changeand difficulty to precisely grasp the scene content by viewing onlycontracted images.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] A primary object of the present invention is to provide arecording and reproducing device that can easily reproduce recordedaudio data and video data beginning from any record position that theuser wants to see or listen.

[0011] Another object of the present invention is to provide a recordingand reproducing device that can easily edit recorded audio dataandvideodatabyeasilycopying, cutting (deleting), pasting and transferringobjective elements.

[0012] Another object of the present invention is to provide a recordingand reproducing device comprising: a recording/reproducing means forrecording video or audio data and reproducing the recorded data; aninput area specifying means for specifying an area for inputtingcharacters therein; a character inputting means for inputting charactersin the area specified by the input area specifying means; a displayingmeans for displaying characters input by the character inputting means;a character inputting start detecting means for detecting the beginningof inputting characters by the character inputting means while recordingor reproducing data by the recording/reproducing means; and arecording/reproducing position storing means for relationally storing:information indicating a position of recording/reproducing data by therecording/reproducing means at a time point of detection of thecharacter inputting start by the character inputting start detectingmeans; a string of characters inputted by the character inputting meansat that time point; and information indicating an area wherein thecharacters have been inputted, wherein the information indicating theposition, the string of characters, and the information indicating thearea are related with each other.

[0013] Another object of the present invention is to provide a recordingand reproducing device, further comprising: a discriminating means fordiscriminating whether a character inputted by the character inputtingmeans in relation with the position of video or audio data beingdisplayed during the reproduction of recorded data by therecording/reproducing means and information defining the area whereinthe character have been inputted are stored in the recording/reproducingposition storing means; and a displaying form changing means whereby,when the discriminating means decided the presence of the informationstored in the recording/reproducing position storing means, thecharacter or the area is displayed differently in form from othercharacters or areas.

[0014] Another object of the present invention is to provide a recordingand reproducing device, further comprising: an area selecting means forselecting one of areas stored in the recording/reproduction positionstoring means; and a reproduction instructing means for instructing therecording/reproducing means to reproduce video or audio data from arecording/reproducing position stored with reference to a correspondingarea selected by the area selects means.

[0015] Another object of the present invention is to provide a recordingand reproducing device, wherein the area selecting means automaticallyselects one of areas stored in the record/reproduction position storingmeans one by one in the stored order.

[0016] Another object of the present invention is to provide a recordingand reproducing device, further comprising: an edition instructing meansfor instructing edition by deleting a character stored in therecord/reproduction position storing means or copying or transferring acharacter to another position thereof; and an editing means for deletinga character stored in the record/reproduction position storing means orcopying or transferring a character to another position thereof inresponse to instruction from the edition instructing means and fordeleting an information indicating the position corresponding to thedeleted character in the record/reproduction position storing means orstoring the copied/transferred character with reference to informationindicating an area whereto the character has been copied/transferred.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a recording and reproducing deviceaccording to the present invention.

[0018]FIG. 2 illustrates a detailed content of a main storage 6.

[0019]FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplified screen image of a displayportion 4.

[0020]FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplified screen image of a displayportion 4.

[0021]FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplified screen image of a displayportion 4.

[0022]FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting the operation of a recording andreproducing device according to the present invention.

[0023]FIG. 7 is a flowchart depicting the operation of a recording andreproducing device according to the present invention.

[0024]FIG. 8 illustrates a detailed content of a main storage 6.

[0025]FIG. 9 is a f lowchart depicting the operation of a recording andreproducing device according to the present invention.

[0026]FIG. 10 is a f lowchart depicting the operation of a recording andreproducing device according to the present invention.

[0027]FIG. 11 illustrates a detailed content of a main storage 6.

[0028]FIG. 12 is a f lowchart depicting the operation of a recording andreproducing device according to the present invention.

[0029]FIG. 13 is a f lowchart depicting the operation of a recording andreproducing device according to the present invention.

[0030]FIG. 14 is a f lowchart depicting the operation of a recording andreproducing device according to the present invention.

[0031]FIG. 15 is a flowchart depicting the operation of a recording andreproducing device according to the present invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0032] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be describedbelow: In this specification, the term “video” means “moving picturesand audio data” but it may be only “moving pictures or audio data”. Theterm “video recording” means “recording moving pictures and recordingaudio data” but it may be only “recording moving pictures or recordingaudio data”.

[0033]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a structure of a recording andreproducing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.In FIG. 1, the recording and reproducing device comprises a CPU (maincontrol unit) 1, a ROM (read-only memory) 2, a RAM (random-accessmemory) 3, a display portion 4, an inputting portion 5, a main storage6, recording/reproducing portion 7, video outputting portion 8, videoinputting portion 9 and a recording medium 10.

[0034] The main control unit CPU 1 controls a whole system of therecording and reproducing device. It also controls document-processingoperations including Japanese Hiragana-to-Kanji conversion and therecording and reproducing portion 7. The ROM 2 stores a control programfor operating CPU 1 (i.e., programs for realizing flowcharts of FIGS.6-7, 9-10 or 12-15 and other applications) as well as dictionaries forJapanese Kana-to-Kanji conversion and character recognition. The RAM 3is a working memory for storing data and variables necessary foroperation of the CPU 1.

[0035] The display 4 is used for displaying the output of the recordingand reproducing device. It displays a word-processor application (forediting documentary texts), an ink word-processor application (forediting an image document) and a control window for control a recorder(video-recording/reproducing application).

[0036] The inputting portion 5 is an inputting means that is used by theuser for inputting characters and commands for executing thedocument-text editing application or the image-document editingapplication. The inputting means may be, for example, a keyboard, atouch panel and a mouse, etc. A keyboard has a set of character keyswith the addition of a number of function keys such as cursor-keys andso on.

[0037] The main storage 6 is used for storing document inputted by theuser and/or receded video data, etc. In the shown embodiment, the mainstorage 6 consists of a medium capable of storing digital data (e.g.,random access memory). However, it may be composed of a tape medium forrecording analog data thereon or a plurality of different kinds ofstorage media.

[0038] The recording/reproducing portion 7 is used for recording videodata and reproducing the recorded video data. It is connected to thevideo outputting portion 8 and the video inputting portion 9. The videooutputting portion 8 is used for outputting video and audio data. Thevideo outputting portion 8 may serve as the display portion 4. It mayalso be a video output terminal. The video inputting portion 9 may be avideo camera and a microphone or video input terminal.

[0039] The recording medium 10 is used for permanently storing videodata and document data. It may be, for example, a hard disk, a magnetooptical disk or a magnetic tape.

[0040]FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the main storage 6 that having avideo data storage area 61 and a document data storage area 62. Thevideo data storage area 61 consists of a pair of sub-areas: one is aunit-time video data storage area 611 for storing video data per unittime and the other is a unit-time corresponding line position storagearea 612 for storing each line (row) position corresponding to eachvideo data stored for a unit time in the area 611. The document datastorage area 62 consists of a pair of sub-areas: one is a line documentdata storage area 621 for storing document data (a string of characters)per line (row) and the other is a line-corresponding video positionstorage area 622 for storing each video data position corresponding toeach line (row) of the document data.

[0041] FIGS. 3 to 5 show exemplary screen images on the display portion4. FIG. 3 illustrates an initial state of the recording and reproducingdevice when the word processing application and recorder application aredriven on the device. FIG. 4 illustrates a state of the device when thedocument data is input and displayed thereon.

[0042] Once the applications were driven, a control window 20 forcontrolling the recorder operation appears on a display screen of thedisplay portion 4. The control window 20 contains a “stop” button 21, a“play (reproduce)” button 22, a “video recording” button 23, a “pause”button 24 and a “video recording time” indicator 25. A screen area 26 isan area for displaying inputted document data. By operating a “cursormoving” key of the inputting portion 5, the user moves a cursor on adesired row-and-column position on the screen to input characterstherefrom. A “register” button 27 is used for inputting an instructionfor recording the input document and recorded video data on therecording medium 10. An “end” button 28 is used for inputting aninstruction for finishing the applications. The above buttons can beoperated by using a mouse or touch panel of the inputting portion 5.

[0043] When, for example, during a conference ornegotiations, the useractuated the video “record” button 23 on the display in the state shownin FIG. 3, video data input from the video inputting portion 9 is storedin the video data storage area 611. In this instance, the video data perunit time (with an elapse of a unit time) from the beginning of videorecording is stored subsequently in a specified area of the unit-timevideo data storage area 611.

[0044] After the beginning of the video data recording, the user in thiscase starts inputting characters from the inputting portion 5 bypreviously positioning the cursor at a desired position on the documentinputting area 26 on the display portion 4. Now, the information on aline position pointed by the cursor is stored in a specified area(corresponding to a recording time position at that moment) of theunit-time corresponding line-position storage area 612 and the videorecording time-position information is stored in a specified area(corresponding to a specified line position) of the line-correspondingvideo position storage area 622.

[0045] For example, 4 seconds after the beginning of the video recordingoperation, the user started inputting characters from the third line(row) (line position 263 in FIG. 4) pointed by the cursor. In thisinstance, information indicating “the third line” is stored in “lineposition corresponding to video data in 4 to 5 sec.”, as shown in FIG.2, of the unit-time corresponding line position storage area 612.Information indicating the video recording position at that point oftime, i.e., “4 seconds after” the beginning of the video recording, isalso stored in “video position corresponding to the third line”, asshown in FIG. 2, of the line-corresponding video position storage area622.

[0046] On the completion of the conference or the negotiation, the userpresses the “stop” button 21 in the window 20 to finish the videorecording operation and presses the “register” button 27 to register thedata stored in the video data storage area 61 and the document datastorage area 62 into the recording medium 10. The video recording can betemporally stopped by pressing the “pause” button 24 on the displayscreen.

[0047] When preparing proceedings or a report, the user can see videodata corresponding to a desired line of the document displayed on thedisplay portion by only designating the line. A this time, the videodata is read from the unit-time video data storage area 611 andoutputted (reproduced) by the video outputting portion 8. For example,by pointing a line position 261 shown in FIG. 4, video data relating to“report on a balance sheet of this month” is read and reproduced.Similarly, by pointing line positions 262, 263, 264 and 265,corresponding video data for the respective line texts is read andreproduced.

[0048]FIG. 5 is an exemplary screen image wherein a control window 20 isshown in a lower part of the screen. The control window can be erasedand re-displayed by inputting corresponding instructions through theinputting portion 5.

[0049]FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting the operation of the recording andreproducing device according to the present invention, whichparticularly illustrates the video recording processing operation to beexecuted under the control of the CPU 1. This flowchart illustrates theoperation of the device in the state when the word processor applicationand the video recorder application are driven as illustrated in FIG. 3.

[0050] Step S1, in response to user's instruction from the inputtingportion 5, examines whether the required processing is the edition of adocument or video recording or video reproduction. If the instructionfor moving a cursor, cutting or pasting is input from the inputtingportion 5, the CPU judges the document edition is requested and henceadvances the procedure to Step S111 (FIG. 15). If the instruction isgiven by pointing the “video recording” button 23 within the controlwindow, the procedure proceeds to Step S2 (FIG. 9). If the instructionis given by pointing the “play” button 22 within the control window, theprocedure proceeds to Step S31 (FIG. 9).

[0051] In Step S2, the video data storage area 61 and the document datastorage area 62 are initialized for initiating the recording of newvideo data. In Step S3, a cursor is transferred and indicated at aninitial position (leftmost on line 1) on the display screen image.

[0052] In Step S4, a variable ROW representing a line (row) position ofthe cursor for inputting characters thereat is set to 1. In Step S5, avariable T representing a time elapsed from the beginning of videorecording is set to 0. The variables are stored in the RAM 3.

[0053] Step S6 instructs the recording/reproducing portion 7 to beginthe recording of video data. The recording/reproducing portion 7operates independently from the CPU 1 in such a way that it receivesvideo input from the video inputting portion 9, converts the video intodigital data and sequentially stores the digitized data in a specifiedarea (designated by the variable value T) of the unit-time video datastorage area 611. The recording/reproducing portion 7 starts therecording of video data, generating a specific interrupt signal to theCPU 1 at intervals of a unit time (0, 1, 2, . . . seconds after thebeginning the recording of video data in this instance). The CPU 1, inresponse to the interrupting signal, performs the interrupt operation tobe described later in detail with reference to FIG. 7.

[0054] Step S7 examines whether an instruction to move the cursor wasinput from the inputting portion 5. If so, the cursor is moved in StepS8. Then, the procedure advances to Step S9 to examine whethercharacters were input from the inputting portion or not. If so, theprocedure advances to Step S10. If not, the procedure proceeds to StepS13.

[0055] In this embodiment, inputting a character causes the cursor tomove rightward by one character and it cannot be realized when thecursor locates at the right end of that line. Alternatively, inputting acharacter with the cursor placed at the right end on the screen imagemay cause a whole screen image to be scrolled leftward. When a “carriagereturn” key (an “enter” key) is pushed, the cursor moves to thebeginning column of a next line (row).

[0056] In Step S10, the variable Row is set to a value corresponding tothe current position of the cursor. In Step S11, character data inputtedis stored in a predetermined area (i.e., an area corresponding to a lineposition specified by the variable value Row) of the document datastorage area 621. In Step S12, a current value of the variable T isstored in a predetermined area (i.e., an area corresponding to a lineposition specified by the variable Row) of the line-corresponding videoposition storage area 622.

[0057] Step S13 examines whether the “stop” button 21 in the controlwindow 20 was pointed or not. If not, the procedure returns to Step S7.When the button 21 was pointed, the procedure proceeds to Step S14.

[0058] Step S14 instructs the recording/reproducing portion 7 to stopthe recording of video data. Step S15, in response to instruction fromthe “register” button 27, registers the data stored in the video datastorage area 61 and document data storage area 62 into the recordingmedium 10, finishes the processing (for video recording) and returns theprocedure to START.

[0059]FIG. 7 is a flowchart depicting the operation of the recording andreproducing device according to the present invention, whichparticularly concerns the interrupt operation during the video recordingprocess under the control of the CPU 1. This flowchart illustrates theoperation of the device, which is performed in response to a specifiedinterrupt signal to be outputted at a constant time-interval afterbeginning of recording video data by the recording/reproducing portion 7in Step S6 of the flowchart of FIG. 6.

[0060] In Step S21, a value of the variable Row is stored in a specifiedarea (i.e., an area specified by the variable T) of the unit-timecorresponding line position storage area 612. For example, when thevariable T has a value of 0 and the variable Row has a value of 1, avalue of 1 is stored in an area “line position corresponding to 0-1sec.” of the storage area 612 shown in FIG. 2.

[0061] In Step S22, the value of the variable T is increased by 1,whereby the interrupt processing is finished and the procedure returnsto the processing that was performed before the interrupt operation.

[0062] By repeating Steps S7 to S13 of FIG. 6 and Steps S21 to S22 ofFIG. 7 respectively, it is realized to store each character stringinputted during the video recording operation with reference to its lineposition (row number) corresponding to the video recording position atthat time point.

[0063] For example, when a character string was input on the second andthird lines respectively in 10 and 20 seconds after pressing the “videorecording” button 23 and the “stop” button was pressed with an elapse of30 seconds after the same time point, 1 is stored in an area of “lineposition corresponding to 0-1 sec.” to an area of “line positioncorresponding to 9-10 sec.” 2 is stored in an area of “line positioncorresponding to 10-11 sec.” to an area of “line position correspondingto 19-20 sec.” and 3 is stored in an area of “line positioncorresponding to 20-21 sec.” to an area of “line position correspondingto 29-30 sec.” of the unit-time-corresponding line position storage area612 as shown in FIG. 8. At the same time, 0 is stored in an area of“video position corresponding to the first line (row)”, 10 is stored inan area of “video position corresponding to the second line” and 20 isstored in an area of “video position corresponding to the third line” ofthe line-corresponding video position storage area 622.

[0064]FIGS. 9 and 10 are flowcharts depicting the video reproducingprocedure of the recording and reproducing device according to thepresent invention, when recorded video data is displayed without anyedition (without changing order) and under the control of the CPU 1.This flowchart illustrates the processing steps following Step S1 ofFIG. 6, where it was judged that the “play” button 22 was selected.

[0065] The flowcharts of FIGS. 9 to 10 may be summarized as follows:Once video data reproduction was started, the lines related with a unittime elapsed from the beginning of the video reproduction is displayedin the form different form other lines. For example, where the videodata and document data have been stored as shown in FIG. 8, the firstline corresponding to 10 sec. from the beginning of reproducing thevideo data is displayed in a changed form, the second line for a periodfrom 10 to 20 sec. is displayed in a changed form and the third line fora period of 20 to 30 sec. is displayed in a changed form.

[0066] When the user moved a cursor to a desired position and startedinputting characters during the video reproduction, the CPU 1 stores theline position of the character string inputted thereon with a newreference to video data. When, in the example of the video and documentdata stored as shown in FIG. 8, the inputting of characters was startedon the fourth line pointed by the cursor after 15 seconds of the videoreproduction, the CPU 1 stores 4 in an area of “line positioncorresponding to a period from 15 to 16 sec.” through an area of “lineposition corresponding a period from 19 to 20 sec.” of the video datastorage area 61 and document data storage area 62 respectively as shownin FIG. 11.

[0067] Now, the detail of the flowcharts 9 and 10 is described below. InStep S31, the video data and the document data are read from therecording medium 10 and stored in the video data storage area 61 anddocument data storage area 62 respectively. This step is omitted if thevideo data and the document data have been already stored in the videodata storage area 61 and document data storage area 62 respectively.

[0068] In Step S32, the document data stored in the document datastorage area 62 is displayed on the display portion 4 for example asshown in FIG. 4.

[0069] In Step S33, the CPU 1 requests the user to select one of threereproducing methods, i.e., “original”, “specified lines” and “subsequentlines” reproduction modes. In the “original” reproduction mode, thevideo data recorded is displayed in the original order from the firstframe. In the “specified line” reproduction mode, video data of aunit-time range corresponding to a character line on the display screenof the display portion 4, which line was specified by the user, isreproduced. In the “subsequent lines” reproduction mode, video images ofsubsequent unit-time ranges corresponding to respective subsequentcharacter lines (1, 2, 3, . . . , n) are subsequently reproduced in theabove described line order. The procedure, in response to the user'sselection of “original” or “specified line” or “subsequent lines”reproduction mode, proceeds to Steps S34 or S61 (FIG. 12) and S91 (FIG.14) respectively.

[0070] In Step S34, the variable RowA representing a line positionpointed by cursor at the time of inputting characters is set to 0. InStep S35, the variable T representing a time elapsed after the beginningof recording video data is set to 0.

[0071] In Step S36, the recording/reproducing portion 7 is instructed tostart the reproduction of the video data from a position specified bythe variable T. The recording/reproducing portion 7 operatesindependently from the CPU 1 and sequentially reads video data from aspecified area (designated by the variable value T) of the unit-timevideo data storage area 611 and outputs the data to the video dataoutputting portion 8.

[0072] The recording/reproducing portion 7 generates a specificinterrupt signal at constant intervals (i.e., after 0, 1, 2, . . .second reproduction) after the beginning of video reproduction and sendsit to the CPU 1. The CPU 1, in response to each interrupt signal fromthe recording/reproducing portion 7, performs the predeterminedinterrupt processing to be described later in detail with reference toFIG. 10.

[0073] Then, the procedure advances to Step S37 to examine whether aninstruction of moving a cursor was inputted from inputting portion ornot. If so, the procedure advances to Step S38 to move the cursor, andthen proceeds to Step S39.

[0074] Step S39 examines whether characters were inputted from theinputting portion 5. If so, the procedure proceeds to Step S40. If not,the procedure proceeds to Step S44. In Step S40, the variable RowA issubstituted with the line position whereat characters were inputted. InStep S41, the character data inputted is stored in a specified area (anarea corresponding to a line position represented by the variable valueRowA) of line document-data storage area 621. In Step S42, a currentvalue of the variable T is stored in a specified area (an areacorresponding to a line position represented by the variable value RowA)of line-corresponding video-data storage area 622. In Step S43, thevariable RowC is substituted with a value stored in a specified area (anarea corresponding to a value of variable T) of the unit-timecorresponding line position storage area 612.

[0075] Step S44 examines whether the “stop” button 21 in the controlwindow 20 was operated by the user. If that button was pressed, theprocedure proceeds to Step S46 to instruct the recording/reproducingportion 7 to stop the video reproducing operation. Step S47, in responseto instruction from the “register” button 27, resisters the data storedin the video data storage area 61 and the document data storage area 62to the recording medium 10, finishes the processing (originalreproduction procedure) and returns the procedure to START.

[0076] Step S45 examines whether the value of the variable T exceeds anamount of data stored in the video data storage area 61 (whether videodata is stored in an area specified by the variable T in the unit-timevideo data storage area 611). If not, the procedure returns to Step S37.If the variable value T exceeds the video data amount, the procedureproceeds to Step S46.

[0077]FIG. 10 is a flowchart depicting the operation of the recordingand reproducing device, particularly concerning the interrupt operationmade during the original video reproduction by the device under thecontrol of the CPU 1. The flowchart is performed in response tospecified interrupt signal to be generated at constant time intervalsafter beginning the video reproduction by the recording/reproducingportion 7 at Step S36 of FIG. 9.

[0078] In Step S51, the variable RowB which value represents a lineposition corresponding to a time position of a video data beingreproduced is substituted with a value stored in a specified area (anarea corresponding to a value of the variable T) of the unit-timecorresponding line position storage area 612. For example, when thevariable T has a value 0, a value (e.g., 1) stored in an area of “lineposition corresponding to a period of 0-1 seconds” of theunit-time-corresponding line-position storage area 612.

[0079] In Step S52, the variable RowA is examined whether its value iszero. If it is zero, the procedure advances to S53. If it is not zero,the procedure proceeds to Step S54. In Step S53, a character string on aline or an entire line designated by the value of the variable RowB isdisplayed in a particular form (e.g., shaded form) different from otherlines. This enables the user to recognize characters (e.g., anexplanatory sentence or a title) corresponding to a video image beingreproduced on the display screen.

[0080] On the other hand, Step S54 discriminates whether a value of thevariable RowB coincides with that of the variable RowC. If the variableshave not the same value, 0 is substituted into the variable RowA andthen the procedure proceeds to Step S53. If the variables have the samevalue, the procedure proceeds to Step S56.

[0081] In Step S56, the value of the variable RowA is stored in aspecified area (an area designated by the value of the variable T) ofthe unit-time corresponding line position storage area 612. In Step S57,a character string on a line or an entire line designated by thevariable value RowA is displayed in a particular form (e.g., shadedform) different from other lines.

[0082] Step S58 increases the value of the variable T is increased by 1,finishes the interrupt processing and then returns to the processingthat was performed before the beginning of the interrupt processing.

[0083] By doing the above processing, a line of characters related byits time position to the video data being displayed can be displayed asdistinguished from other lines. It is also realized to store theposition of a line on which the user inputted characters during thereproduction of video data by moving the cursor so that the lineposition can be newly related with the video data being displayed on thedisplay screen.

[0084]FIG. 12 is a flowchart depicting the operation of the recordingand reproducing device when the user designated any one of lines toreproduce video data from a portion related to the designated line underthe control of the CPU 1. The flowchart illustrates a procedure afterthe specified line reproduction mode was selected in Step S33 of FIG. 9.

[0085] Step S61 discriminates whether an instruction to move the cursorwas inputted from the inputting portion 5. If so, the cursor is moved toa designated position (Step S62) and, then, the procedure advances toStep S63.

[0086] Step S63 discriminates whether the “play” button 22 in thecontrol window 20 was selected by a pointing device. If the button 22was selected, the procedure proceeds to Step S65. If not, the procedureproceeds to Step S64 to discriminate whether a “finish” instruction wasinputted from the inputting portion 5. If the “finish” command wasinputted, the processing (for reproduction of video data from thespecified line position) is finished and the procedure returns to START.If no instruction was inputted, the procedure returns to Step S61.

[0087] In Step S65, a current position of the cursor is input into thevariable Row. In Step S66, the variable T is substituted with a valuestored in a specified area (i.e., an area specified by a value of thevariable Row) of the line-corresponding video position storage area 622.For example, when the user moves the cursor to the second line andpressed the “play” button 22, the variable Row is substituted with 2 andthe variable T is substituted with 10.

[0088] Step S67 instructs the recording/reproducing portion 7 toreproduce video data from the position designated by the variable valueT. The recording/reproducing portion 7 operates independently from theCPU 1 and sequentially reads data from a specified area (i.e., an areadesignated by the variable value T) of the unit-time video data storagearea 611 and continues outputting the data to the video data outputtingportion 8 until the last data is read or the “stop” instruction isgiven.

[0089] The recording/reproducing portion 7 generates a specificinterrupt signal at constant time intervals (i.e., after 0, 1, 2, . . .second reproduction) after the beginning of video reproduction and sendsit to the CPU 1. The CPU 1, in response to each interrupt signal fromthe recording/reproducing portion 7, performs the predeterminedinterrupt processing to be described later in detail with reference toFIG. 13.

[0090] Step S68 discriminates whether the “stop” button 21 in thecontrol window 20 was pressed. If the button was operated, the procedureproceeds to Step S70. Step S69 discriminates whether the current valueof the variable T exceeds the amount of data stored in the video datastorage area 61 (whether video data is stored in an area specified bythe variable T in the unit-time video-data storage area 611). If thevariable value T exceeds the video data amount, the procedure proceedsto Step S71.

[0091] Step S70 discriminates whether the value stored in a specifiedarea (i.e., an area specified by the variable T) of the unit-timecorresponding line position storage area 612 is equal to the value ofthe variable Row. If so, the procedure returns to Step S68. If not, theprocedure proceeds to Step S71. Alternatively, the procedure may alwaysreturn to Step S68 by omitting the discrimination step S70.

[0092] Step S71 instructs the recording/reproducing portion 7 to stopthe video reproducing operation. The procedure returns to Step S61.

[0093]FIG. 13 is a flowchart depicting the operation of the recordingand reproducing device, particularly concerning the interrupt operationduring the specified line video reproduction by the device under thecontrol of the CPU 1. The flowchart is performed in response tospecified interrupt signal to be generated at constant time intervalsafter beginning the video reproduction by the recording/reproducingportion 7 at Step S67 of FIG. 12.

[0094] Step S81 increases the variable value T by 1, finishes theinterrupt processing and returns to the processing that was performedbefore the interruption.

[0095] As described above, the processing of FIGS. 12 and 13 enables thereproduction of video data starting from a desired position bydesignating by the user a line containing a desired character string.

[0096]FIG. 14 is a flowchart depicting the operation of the recordingand reproducing device under the control of the CPU 1, which is thereproduction of video data in the sequential line order from theposition corresponding to the first line. The flowchart illustrates aprocedure after the subsequent line reproduction mode was selected inStep S33 of FIG. 9.

[0097] In Step S91, the variable Row is substituted with 1. When it isdesired to start the reproduction of the video data from a mid-line(e.g., not from the first line but from the second or third line), adesired line value (i.e., 2 or 3) must be set at the variable Row inthis step. In Step S92, the variable T is substituted with a valuestored in a specified area (an area specified by the variable Row) ofthe line-corresponding video data storage area 622.

[0098] Step S93 instructs the recording/reproducing portion 7 toreproduce video data from the position designated by the variable valueT. The recording/reproducing portion 7 operates independently from theCPU 1 and sequentially reads data from a specified area (i.e., an areadesignated by the variable value T) of the unit-time video data storagearea 611 and continues outputting the data to the video data outputtingportion 8 until the last data is read or the “stop” instruction isgiven.

[0099] The recording/reproducing portion 7 generates a specificinterrupt signal at constant intervals (i.e., after 0, 1, 2, . . .second reproduction) after the beginning of video reproduction and sendsit to the CPU 1. The CPU 1, in response to each interrupt signal fromthe recording/reproducing portion 7, performs the predeterminedinterruption processing that is the same as described with reference toFIG. 13. Therefore, further description is omitted.

[0100] In Step S94, characters in a line or a whole line, which positionis specified by a value of the variable Row, is displayed asdistinguished, e.g., with shading, from other lines.

[0101] Step S95 discriminates whether the “stop” button 21 in thecontrol window 20 was pushed. If the button was selected, the procedureproceeds to Step S101. Step S101 instructs the recording/reproducingportion 7 to stop the video reproduction, then finishes the processing(continuous line reproduction mode) and then returns the procedure toSTART.

[0102] Step S96 discriminates whether the value stored in the specifiedarea (designated by the variable T) of the unit-time-related lineposition storage area 612 is equal to that of the variable T. With thevalues equal to each other, the procedure returns to Step S95. If not,the procedure proceeds to Step S97. While the processing of Steps S95 toS96 is repeated, interrupt processing is executed at constant timeintervals with an increment of 1 in the variable value Row perinterruption.

[0103] In Step S97, the variable value Row is increased by 1. In StepS98, it is discriminated whether the value of the variable Row exceedsthat of the last line of the document data. If so, the processing istransferred to Step S101 to finish the video reproduction processing.

[0104] Step S99 substitutes the variable T with a value stored in aspecified area (an area specified by the variable Row) in the linecorresponding video position storage area 622. Step S100 discriminateswhether the variable value T is equal to zero. The processing returns toStep S97 when the variable T is zero and, if not zero, returns to StepS93 to start the reproduction of video data from the position specifiedby the variable value T.

[0105] Repeating Steps S91 to S100 realizes the subsequent video-datareproduction starting from respective video-data positions correspondingto line positions (in the sequential order beginning from the firstline).

[0106]FIG. 15 is a flowchart depicting a procedure in particular forediting the document data on the line-by-line basis under the control ofthe CPU 1 by the recording and reproducing device according to thepresent invention. The flowchart illustrates a procedure following StepS1 in the flowchart of FIG. 6, whereat it is decided that the userselected the document edition mode.

[0107] Step S111 discriminates whether an instruction to move the cursor(by pressing a “Cursor Move” key, “Carriage Return” key or clicking themouse) was input from the inputting portion 5. If so, the procedureproceeds to Step S112. If not, the procedure proceeds to Step S113.

[0108] In Step S112, the processing is made for moving the cursor andthen proceeds to Step S113. The cursor can be moved freely within anarea 26 for inputting and displaying document data. When the cursor ismoved to the end of the area 26, the scroll processing of the displayeddocument is executed. The cursor is moved to the top column of the nextline (row) when the “carriage return” key is pressed.

[0109] In Step S113, it is decided whether an instruction to copy a linefrom the inputting portion 5. With the instruction inputted, data storedin a specified area (an area corresponding to a current line pointed bythe cursor) of the document data storage area (line document datastorage area 621 and line-corresponding video position storage area 622)is temporally stored on the RAM 3 and then the processing proceeds toStep S115.

[0110] In Step S115, it is decided whether an instruction to cut(delete) a line was inputted from the inputting portion 5. In Step S116,in response to the instruction inputted, data stored in a specified area(an area corresponding to a current line position pointed by the cursor)of the document data storage area 62 (line document data storage area621 and line-corresponding video position storage area 622) istemporally stored on the RAM 3 and the specified area (corresponding tothe current cursor pointed line) of the document data storage area 62 isdeleted while forwardly shifting following data by one line in StepS117. Then, the procedure proceeds to Step S118.

[0111] In Step S118, it is decided whether an instruction to paste aline (line pasting command) from the inputting portion 5. In Step S119,in response to the line pasting command inputted, the data temporallystored on the RAM 3 at Step S114 or S116 is inserted into a specifiedarea (an area corresponding to a current line position pointed by thecursor) of the document data storage area 62 while shifting thesubsequent data backwards by one line. Then, the procedure proceeds toStep S120.

[0112] In Step S120, it is decided whether an instruction to finish theedition (a finish command inputted by pressing the “register” button 27or the “play” button) is inputted from the inputting portion 5. If not,the procedure returns to Step Slll. When the command was inputted, theprocedure proceeds to Step S121 whereat, in response to instructioninputted by pressing the “register” button 27, the video data stored inthe video data storage area 62 and the document data storage area isregistered onto the recording medium 10. The procedure (editionprocessing) ends and returns to START.

[0113] By repeating Steps Slll to S120, it is possible to designate anyof lines being displayed on the display screen for edition by copying,cutting and pasting. Together with line document data, the linecorresponding video data position is also copied, cut and pasted. Thisenables the user to change the order of reproducing video data, asdescribed for subsequently reproducing lines, by changing the order oflines. Although line cutting and line pasting were described asindependent operations, they may be done in combination with each otherto realize the processing for transferring a line of characters.Although the above edition is conducted on the line-by-line basis, itmay be done with a plurality of lines at a time.

[0114] The foregoing embodiments of the present invention are notrestricted to the described contents and can be modified as far as suchmodification is within the spirit of the invention. For example, theabove embodiments have been described for recording and reproducingvideo data but they may be modified for recording and reproducing audiosignals. Namely, the specification of the embodiment can be modified bychanging the terms “video” to “audio”, “video recording” to “audiorecording”, “video outputting portion” to “audio outputting” and “videoinputting portion” to “audio inputting portion”. This may be made in theinvention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

[0115] In the described embodiments, recorded positions of video dataare stored with reference to corresponding lines of the document data.Alternatively, plural text boxes (graphical objects capable of storingcharacters) are used with reference to corresponding recorded positionsof video data. Namely, the description of the above embodiments may beeasily modified by changing wording, e.g., “the first line” to “thefirst text box”, “designate a line” to “designate a text box”, “cut andpaste a line” to “cut and paste a text box”. These changes may be madein the invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

[0116] The recording and reproducing device according to the presentinvention offers the following advantages:

[0117] When characters are inputted during recording or reproducing ofvideo and audio data, the inputted character data is stored withreference to the recording or reproducing position of the video or audiodata at the time point of inputting the character data. This enables theuser to easily reproduce the video and audio data from any desired partby designating the corresponding line of the character data beingdisplayed on the display screen.

[0118] The video and audio data thus stored can be displayed togetherwith a corresponding character string recognized and distinguished. Thismay present to the user a character string representing a title or asummary of the video or audio data being currently reproduced.

[0119] The edition of thus stored characters per line by copying,cutting, pasting, etc. may be accompanied by automatic edition ofpositions of records of video or audio data, which positions were storedwith reference to the corresponding character data, thus enabling thereproduction of edited video and audio data in the changed order. Theedition of the video and audio information (copying, cutting, pasting,and moving) is made by editing correspontding character data, i.e., atitle and summary of the content of the video and audio data. In thisinstance, the video data and the audio data are not directly edited andmerely the information defining their positions is edited. Consequently,there is no need of processing a large amount of data and, therefore,the high-speed data processing can be achieved.

1. A recording and reproducing device comprising: arecording/reproducing means for recording video or audio data andreproducing the recorded data; an input area specifying means forspecifying an area for inputting characters therein; a characterinputting means for inputting characters in the area specified by theinput area specifying means; a displaying means for displayingcharacters input by the character inputting means; a character inputtingstart detecting means for detecting the beginning of inputtingcharacters by the character inputting means while recording orreproducing data by the recording/reproducing means; and arecording/reproducing position storing means for relationally storing:information indicating a position of recording/reproducing data by therecording/reproducing means at a time point of detection of thecharacter inputting start by the character inputting start detectingmeans; a string of characters inputted by the character inputting meansat that time point; and information indicating an area wherein thecharacters have been inputted, wherein the information indicating theposition, the string of characters, and the information indicating thearea are related with each other.
 2. A recording and reproducing deviceas defined in claim 1 , further comprising: a discriminating means fordiscriminating whether a character inputted by the character inputtingmeans in relation with the position of video or audio data beingdisplayed during the reproduction of recorded data by therecording/reproducing means and information defining the area whereinthe character have been inputted are stored in the recording/reproducingposition storing means; and a displaying form changing means whereby,when the discriminating means decided the presence of the informationstored in the recording/reproducing position storing means, thecharacter or the area is displayed differently in form from othercharacters or areas.
 3. A recording and reproducing device as defined inclaims 1 or 2, further comprising: an area selecting means for selectingone of areas stored in the recording/reproduction position storingmeans; and a reproduction instructing means for instructing therecording/reproducing means to reproduce video or audio data from arecording/reproducing position stored with reference to a correspondingarea selected by the area selects means.
 4. A recording and reproducingdevice as defined in claim 3 , wherein the area selecting meansautomatically selects one of areas stored in the record/reproductionposition storing means one by one in the stored order.
 5. A recordingand reproducing device as defined in any one of claims 1 to 4 , furthercomprising: an edition instructing means for instructing edition bydeleting a character stored in the record/reproduction position storingmeans or copying or transferring a character to another positionthereof; and an editing means for deleting a character stored in therecord/reproduction position storing means or copying or transferring acharacter to another position thereof in response to instruction fromthe edition instructing means and for deleting an information indicatingthe position corresponding to the deleted character in therecord/reproduction position storing means or storing thecopied/transferred character with reference to information indicating anarea whereto the character has been copied/transferred.